Ministry knows GBHS concerns

A spokesman confirmed the provincial Health ministry recognizes Grey Bruce Health Services faces “unique circumstances” which are being considered when determining funding.

Ministry spokesman David Jensen said in an emailed response to a Sun Times inquiry that it will continue to work with the Local Health Integration Network and the Ontario Hospital Association “to ensure unique circumstances of hospitals such as Grey Bruce Health Services -- factors like size, geography and demographics -- are considered in funding allocations.”

The hospital faces a $4 million deficit on a $182 million budget this fiscal year, which ends March 31. The deficit is projected to climb to $17 million by 2020 if costs aren't aligned with funds.

The hospital will cover this year's deficit with financial reserves but budget cuts and changes in how and where work is done are being considered.

Surgical work may be moved from some GBHS rural hospital sites if the hospital board accepts an option to move it to Owen Sound hospital. That's one controversial option the board of directors of GBHS will be considering at a closed-door budget meeting this coming Friday.

But Lance Thurston, the president and chief executive officer of the six-hospital corporation, said in interviews this week that even if the board cuts deeply, it will still face deficits running into the millions without extra funding from the health ministry, which he said has indicated a willingness to help.

GBHS ran budget surpluses for six years, then the way hospitals are funded by the province changed a few years ago. This is the first year of budget deficit, after transitional funding dried up.

In a news release Friday, Thurston blamed the new provincial funding model which “rewards urban centres with growing populations and sets standards for cost-effectiveness that cannot be realized by a multi-hospital, integrated system serving a widely dispersed rural population that is not growing.”

He promised the public will be consulted on preliminary board decisions starting in late January before they're implemented.

He said in the release both the health ministry and the South West Local Health Integration Network have “responded positively” to GBHS's calls for more money and so “GBHS remains cautiously optimistic on the funding front.”

“Even with additional funding, GBHS will need to make changes to how it now operates. With any changes, our goal is to ensure we continue delivering quality care to the communities we serve,” Thurston said in the news release.

In an interview this week, he also acknowledged there will be “some impact” on staffing, depending on what the board does.

Michael Barrett, the chief executive officer of the South West LHIN, said in an interview Friday that the LHIN is working to ensure the funding formula recognizes the the circumstances in which GBHS operates, being a multi-site, rural Ontario hospital corporation, which is “a bit different,” he said.

He said GBHS is doing everything it needs to by presenting options to its board and attempting to identify any inefficiencies. But he was silent on when more money might be announced.